Giving meaningfully: Strengthening climate action in India

Heat waves in March and April 2022 decreased India's wheat crop yield by 10 to 30 percent this year. (Image: Pixabay/Pexels)

The climate crisis is a threat multiplier with cross-cutting impacts on different sectors. The 2022 heat wave, when India experienced one of the hottest summers on record, underscores its intersectional impact. The heat wave led to an increase in power demand while depleting coal supplies, resulting in India witnessing one of the worst power shortages in the last decade.

Heat waves in March and April also decreased India's wheat crop yield by 10 to 30 percent this year, causing the government to reverse an earlier plan to supplement the global wheat supply that has been impacted by the war in Ukraine. From energy and livelihoods to agriculture and global food supply chains - the implications of climate crisis are far too cross-cutting and intersectional for it to be approached from a single, narrow lens.

Disadvantaged and marginalized communities, who have contributed almost nothing to the climate crisis, are losing their lives, livelihoods and ways of living due to it. Climate-vulnerable developing countries, like India, have been appealing for financial and technical assistance to address their loss and damage from the climate crisis but actions and support from developed countries have been grossly insufficient.

It is the first time in 28 years, since the UN climate convention was adopted, that global negotiators, including India, are discussing the issue of financing loss and damage for the most vulnerable due to the climate crisis, which is truly historic. It prompted COP27 to make the urgently required progress towards assisting the most vulnerable countries in enhancing their climate resilience and adaptation. This focus on loss and damage can be leveraged to strengthen the narrative around adaptation and community resilience, which has hitherto been missing in global convenings that predominantly focus on mitigation.

Philanthropy can play a unique role

The complexity and scale of India’s climate challenges far outpace the ability of any stakeholder to single-handedly solve it. Building India’s climate resilience, in an increasingly volatile climate landscape, with an intentional focus on communities that are most at risk, is critical. It requires a concerted response to ensure high-vulnerability populations have the financial, new technological, and institutional resources they need, which philanthropy is uniquely positioned to support. Philanthropy has the ability to act as a catalyst that works at the intersection of government, businesses, and, more importantly, foundations, civil society and communities and facilitate urgent collaborative action by providing patient capital that de-risks and supports innovation needed for climate action.

We are witnessing an upward momentum in philanthropic giving to climate action as evidenced by The EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2022 which reported a 46 percent increase in donations to the environment and sustainability sector in India. However, this increase amounted to less than $28 million. Given that India needs trillions of dollars to minimize the worst effects of this crisis, we have a long way to go from where we are today in terms of both attention and investment to solve the climate challenges in the timeframe we have.

As the new chair of G20, India has an opportunity to urgently draw more attention to the climate crisis and its disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable. This is also a critical time for the philanthropic community to step up and accelerate their efforts towards climate action by adopting a more proactive and collaborative approach in their response to the climate crisis.

Philanthropic funding has been traditionally focused on education and healthcare and is often tagged to those causes, but it’s imperative to understand that climate is not a standalone cause. Its adverse impact cuts across other causes, be it food systems, energy consumption, transport, or solid waste issues, among others. Therefore, philanthropy must adopt a climate lens to existing initiatives no matter which cause it is funding. Alongside that, it is also crucial for the philanthropic community to invest in climate solutions beyond their existing portfolios more intentionally, involve grassroots stakeholder voices and place long-term outcomes at the center of its efforts.

Areas for philanthropic intervention

Investment in horizontals such as data, research, and narrative building will play an important role in responding to the climate crisis. Philanthropy can support knowledge creation, such as roadmaps and data-based tools to fill existing data gaps. It is also important for philanthropy to invest in human-centric storytelling that helps mainstream a bottoms-up narrative, amplifies the voices of the communities and change-makers at the grassroots, and enables stakeholder groups to speak a common language that is not isolating of those who have power and influence.

Philanthropy is also better positioned to foster a policy environment for climate action. It can build awareness of climate risks, create climate-resilient infrastructure, and lend its support to the government’s efforts such as Mission LiFE to generate consensus. Mission LiFE, which was the key narrative focus for India at COP27, seeks to empower individuals to participate in climate change mitigation efforts by becoming cognizant of their behaviours and consumption patterns and how it impacts the environment. Philanthropy can leverage its voice and influence to amplify this mission and contribute towards strengthening the narrative on sustainable behaviour and resilience.

Strengthening resilience of philanthropic organizations

While there is an enabling role philanthropies can play towards accelerating climate action, it is also important to strengthen the ecosystem that supports them. Intermediary institutions can play a crucial role in increasing the resilience of philanthropic organizations by enabling the creation of common goods and platforms that the sector at large can leverage towards impacting long-term climate action for the most vulnerable and underserved communities. This includes building and facilitating multi-stakeholder collaboratives that engage civil society, think tanks, government and philanthropists to drive collective impact at scale, thought leadership, and peer learning by increasing data collection and research initiatives. This will improve philanthropic access to information, data, and insights and, at the same time, enable problem-solving at scale.

Accelerating climate action that is rooted in collaborative efforts, is our biggest hope for a safer future.